Athletics News

Carrie Appleman arrived on the Colorado State University campus 21 years ago to begin her Rams volleyball career under Coach Rich Feller. During her four seasons on the CSU volleyball team, Appleman was selected second-team all-WAC, and along with teammate Kristen Walton was selected to the first team of the Western Region after the 1991 season. In the 1991 season, Appleman also led her squad in digs (389) and kills (371) to become one of the team leaders of the early 1990s. She was also named the AVCA National Player of the Week in November of 1992.

Today, Carrie Appleman-Busteed is a full-time mom with a boy in kindergarten and lives in Windsor, Colo. After a career as an assistant coach at CSU (1994-1997) and CU (1997-2000), she worked for Hewlett Packard until 2005, which is when she decided to stay at home with her son. She and her husband are avid Rams fans and have had season tickets to football for over five years now.

Carrie had a very memorable playing career with the Rams, not only earning awards, but she enjoyed playing schools like Stanford at Moby Arena. Not just because it was a PAC -10 school, but also because her older sister played at Stanford and her dad flew out from their home in California to watch both sisters compete against one another.She remembers the long hours of training, classes and traveling to and from games through the old Stapleton airport. She feels privileged to have received a full-ride scholarship to CSU and had a chance to not only play on the Rams volleyball team, but also receive a college education.

Carrie keeps in contact with former teammates, especially Nancy Hardy who is still one of her best friends. Their children attend the same school and the families have taken vacations together. Their friendship not only was formed on the court, but also because Nancy is a northern Colorado native and Carrie frequently had the Hardy parents supporting her too.

After graduation, Carrie continued her love of volleyball as an assistant coach under Feller and his other assistant Bill MacLachlan from 1994-97. She frequently spent hours upon hours in gyms, recruiting and her most memorable experience was when the Rams went to the NCAA tournament in 1995. She still keeps in contact with her former players like Rainie Rogers and Janie Penfield.

Carrie continues to cheer on the Rams volleyball team and has already started to bring children from her neighborhood to Moby Arena to get involved with and excited about the game that continues to win championships for Colorado State University.